The story behind the name...

Steve and I had been spending a lot of time talking about names for our fourth child, our second daughter. We had wrestled with a lot of them. Our little girl in China is currently named Ma Chun Hui (sounds like Ma Chun We). Most likely she was given this name by an orphanage nanny when she was brought there to live as an infant. Ma is actually her "last name" or surname, which in China is said first. After some research we learned that "Ma" was given to all of the little girls that entered her particular orphanage in the year 2006. Chun Hui was then given specifically to her. Chun means spring or blooming. Hui means brightness or intelligent. Interestingly, Chloe means blooming as well.

Because she already has a name and has been called this name for 4 years, we wanted to make sure that we chose something similar. We didn't want to turn her whole world upside down as we took her from the orphanage and then start calling her something completely unfamiliar. But we also knew that we wanted to give her a new name, to represent her new life with her forever family. A name chosen by her Mommy and Daddy.

So right now she is Ma Chun Hui.

We struggled because we really wanted a Biblical name. We just weren't sold on any of the M names. We loved many others and considered Abigail, Esther, Naomi, Anna, and Grace. We liked many of those, but none of them sound even close to "Ma."

As we opened up our options to include other names, I mentioned Mia. I have always loved the name Mia. It sounds so feminine and graceful. When I said Mia, Steve said he loved it too. Really? I was so surprised - I never knew that it was a name that he liked...and let's not forget this was the 4th time we have talked baby names together. I decided to look it up in our baby name book because the meaning of a name is incredibly important to us. First I found that the name Mia is Italian. We both loved that because my Dad's family is Italian and my family has always loved identifying with our Italian roots – now she will have them too. Then I saw the meaning...

Mia means Mine.

When I said the meaning out loud to Steve, he said, "That's it. We have a name." It is absolutely perfect because the Lord has made her mine.

Jane is my middle name and was my grandmother’s middle name, my mom's mom. We have always loved it. We also learned that it was Steve's grandmother's middle name (also on his mom's side) and goes back several generations. Steve wanted to use it for Chloe’s middle name, but somehow I knew we needed to save it for another daughter. We absolutely love the name Jane and from the beginning had planned on using it for our little girl in China. It is not by chance that it has a similar sound and tone to Chun. We looked up the meaning and I shared it with Steve.

Jane means God's grace.

Together her name means Mine (by) God's grace.
Absolutely beautiful.

Hui is part of her Chinese given name. We love it. We want to retain a portion of her given name as part of her Chinese heritage and identity. We will always encourage her to embrace it.

Vandenberg, of course, will be her last name. I really love the name Vandenberg. I remember being glad to take it as my new last name when I became Steve's wife. It is a strong Dutch name and both of Steve's parents are Dutch. She too will now have a Dutch heritage. She will always be a Vandenberg.

So, Ma Chun Hui will soon be Mia Jane Hui Vandenberg.
...a little girl with Chinese, Italian and Dutch roots,
woven together by God's grace.

She is Mine by God's Grace.

That's our story.